


Peace of Mind

by magicmumu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Post-Battle of Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 21:57:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14881946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicmumu/pseuds/magicmumu
Summary: "We were scared children up against monsters of the wizard world and you were magnificent."Astra was in her seventh year and Alex was only a first year when Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort brought the battle to Hogwarts.





	Peace of Mind

**Author's Note:**

> I have been consuming fics from the General Danvers Weeks and was thinking of various AUs to write for. I really liked the idea of them being there during the major battle at Hogwarts and exploring the aftermath together. Sorry the summary wasn't the best.

_Alex heard the canon-like booms in the air, smelled the smoke and burning of magic and fire all around her. She huddled with other first years as she looked to the Dark Mark fading in the sky. She heard screams and shouting too close to their group, hidden with seven year Astra In-Ze at the front of them with her wand out. Her mouth was down in concentration and determination, but the slight shake of her wand hand told another story. The group of fifteen also had their wands out at the ready, but what could they really do? What could Astra do? Alex watched the older girl, trying to focus on her only, but there was so much going on around her that her thoughts and eyes were everywhere._

_"We need to move. Come with me, silently. I know you're scared but we must be silent," she told the group, looking at each student individually. When Astra's eyes landed on Alex, she felt she could do this. She felt more grounded in the moment, and she nodded along with her peers. Together, they all moved from their hiding place. The pace was slower than Alex liked, as the noises and fighting felt like it was getting closer, but they were quiet. They moved across a patch of grass, trying to reach another pillar unseen. They almost made it before a Dementor floated over head. Astra waved them to the pillar and held her wand up. "Go go go!" she commanded, touching the shoulders of students as they hurried past her to the new corner. She turned to face the Dementor head on then. She closed her eyes, and then took in a breath as the chill seemed to descend upon all of them. "EXPEC-"_

_Astra wasn't able to get the spell out before Alex saw wisps seeping from the seventh year before her. There was a look of deep pain and sorrow on her face that made Alex feel sick. Worse, she felt helpless. What could she do? She wanted to help but she only knew the most basic of spells - they all did. When Astra's face went pale and a streak of white appeared in Astra's hair as more and more of her life was being sucked out of her, Alex couldn't be still any longer. She stood from where she huddled and ran as close as she dared to Astra's side. "LUMOS!" She knew her spell was weak, but it was enough to irritate the Dementor. Not for more than a second before it looked towards her now._

_"No!" Astra rasped out, "Get back."_

_"I can't- If all I can do is the Lumos spell then I will do the Lumos spell. We all can!" Alex pointed her wand out again, her voice stronger, almost angry now as she shouted "LUMOS!"_

_Behind her, there were echos of the spell from Susan Vasquez, the friend she had made in the Great Hall in the first week at Hogwarts, and a Hufflepuff named Winslow who she had partnered with in Potions just weeks ago. This seemed to make the Dementor think twice as three, four, five more rays came at it as the rest of the first year group shakily pointed their wands and said the spell. Alex stepped back towards Astra, helping her as she stood to her feet after a moment. The Dementor shield its face, and moved back, but was distracted enough by the light that it did not try to advance further. Astra's eyes crossed slightly at the disorientation she still felt. She closed them again, thought about playing wizard chess with her twin sister Alura, and shouted "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

_A bright light came from the tip of Astra's wand then, a phantom of a panther forming to lunge at the Dementor. It screeched and fell back several yards before retreating. Astra breathed deeply for another moment before waving the spell away. Alex followed suit and the sky's light went green once more. Astra turned to the group to assess their situation, then her olive color eyes locked with Alex's brown. "You're a brave one, but the bravest thing we must do now is hide." Alex nodded and followed as Astra lead them further away from the fray._

*

Alex knew that her dreams would start up again when she arrived. She recognized the white streak in the midst of brunette hair long before they shook hands at the beginning of the school year and locked eyes. Professor Astra In Ze couldn't have recognized Alex, but Alex never forgot Astra. The woman was there as the new Defense against the Dark Arts professor. No longer cursed, the position opened after being filled for almost a decade. The leaving professor longed for other ventures and Headmistress McGonagall promised a space for them somewhere should they change their mind.

Alex cleared the green from behind her eyes, the shouting of Unforgivable Curses fading as she continued waking up. She removed her blankets and left her bed, placing her royal blue robe over her shoulders to prevent chill and left her quarters. She slowly decended the stairs of Ravenclaw Towers and walked the corridors as she always had at night when the nightmares of the war were too great, and there were a lot more of them now. She noticed as she often did, the ghosts that wandered with or opposite her, some she once saw walking the corridors in the flesh when she was eleven years old. Though they never touched her, they never failed to make her shiver as her body grew and aged and theirs hadn't. She never spoke to them unless necessary, usually when the children were present and asking questions of the battle that took place inside those stone walls. As awful as it made her feel, she was grateful that she was only a first year at the time of their deaths, for she didn't want to face her dead peers and friends like this.

Alex walked past the Potions dungeon and her office there, not stopping but feeling the comfort of seeing it. She wandered then away and past the Slytherin dungeon when she heard her name. "Professor Danvers?" Alex turned to see Professor In-Ze there, leaning against the wall to the entrance. She hadn't expected the sound of her name from Astra's voice to affect her as it did.

"Professor In-Ze. Good evening," Alex said easily. She took in the black robes over a green sweater and black pants of the other woman, noticing she hadn't even changed for the night.

"What are you doing up so late?"

"Keeping an eye out for midnight snackers and any other students out of bed. What about you?"

"I could say I am doing the same, but we would both know we're lying, aren't we Brave One?" At the name, Alex looked into those olive green eyes, what she could make out in the darkness.

"You remember me?"

"Yes and no. I remember the brave first year who used what little bit she knew to help another in the face of a Dementor. I didn't know that Little One was you until last month. The paintings and ghosts talk about you, you know."

Alex snorted. "I'll bet."

Not only had the story of that day in battle traveled through the first years thanks to Vasquez's boasting, Alex quickly became top of her class, though not quite to the level of her idol Hermione Weasley. Alex excelled in all classes, especially in Herbology, Charms and Potions. Having lost her father in that final battle at the Ministry of Magic and her mother emotionally not long after, Alex spent her summers with Susan Vasquez before her third and forth years. She had joined the dueling club and was soon named head of the club in her fifth year, but then she began a downward spiral when Susan's family couldn't take her in for that summer before the sixth year. She snuck away from King's cross with her trunk and hid in plain sight with memory charms and stolen Polyjuice potion. She spent the entire summer in pubs and night clubs, evading the Ministry of Magic and anyone else who knew her. She had no intention of going back to Hogwarts, but on August thirty first Headmistress McGonagall found her deep in a glass of Fire Whiskey. Sharp eyes and a sharper voice told her to be on the train the next day, hung over or not, and she would help Alex get what she needed for the year once she arrived. When Headmistress McGonagall Disapperated, there was a stack of sixth year text books on the stool next to her. Alex remained in what used to be Hagrid's cabin as an assistant groundskeeper over the following summer so that Headmistress McGonagall could continue to keep an eye on her, and took over the position in full when her seventh year was through. She had no plans from there, but took extra magical courses through owl correspondence as she worked at Hogwarts, and the following year, when Alex was turning nineteen and received extra certifications, she was offered the opportunity to teach Potions. She then moved from the cabin back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

Astra moved away from the wall and walked a couple of steps closer to Alex, who watched her carefully. "Couldn't sleep either," she said. "Come on, I think I know a place we can go instead of wandering around here like...." Astra stopped speaking, her eyes blinking.

"Where?" Alex asked to bring Astra's thoughts forward and away from what made her swallow and look down to the stone floor. Astra tilted her head and the two of them walked back up the way Alex had come, up the stairs to the seventh floor before Alex understood. Though she had never seen or been inside the Room of Requirement, it was where Dumbledore's Army met, according to biographies on Harry Potter and books on the war against Lord Voldemort. Alex knew that Astra had to have been in Dumbledore's Army as a seventh year to know the Expecto Patronum spell.

Alex watched as Astra stood before the portrait of Barnabus the Barmy, watching as the portrait in turn smirked at her and watched her as well. Then Astra took large purposeful strides back and forth three times, and then a large door opened to them. Astra turned to her and held out her hand. Alex found herself taking it before really thinking about it, and walked into the room with the older woman. The room wasn't what she had expected it to be. It wasn't very big, no larger than her bedroom back in Midvale, but there was a fireplace that was already going and hot. In front of it was a large sofa with a table next to it stacked with books. There was a harp nearby playing softly, and hanging at the hearth was a kettle. Astra walked to the large book shelf, dropping Alex's hand along the way, and picked one of the larger texts. Opening it, she found that the Chocolate Frog she'd hidden there was still there in the compartment. She handed it to Alex. "Figure you need this more than I do right now. I have more in my room. Or get more next chaperone trip into Hogsmead."

"Thank you," Alex said. She stood awkwardly before walking closer to the fireplace. She took in its warmth as in the corner of her eye Alex saw Astra starting tea, getting water from a sink in the room and shuffling through the tin on top of the fireplace.

"There are cookies in here?" Astra asked incredulously. "Dibs."

Alex smiled as she opened the Chocolate Frog. She had no patience for the one hop and kept it in a firm grip as she bit off the head not wanting to lose the chocolate to the fire. She should not have felt as much satisfaction from doing so, but she always had even as a kid, though then she would allow the chase for her treat. She stared into the flames, watching as the kettle went into the flames to heat the water. The strings of the harp played and with the chocolate, she was beginning to feel some of the tention of her nightmares leaving her. She turned and looked to Astra, watching the other woman as the firelight flickered over her face, and as always brought her attention to the white streak in her hair. "What do you require?" Alex asked.

"Same as you. Peace of mind. A place to sleep through the night," Astra said softly as she leaned against the arm of the sofa as she waited for the kettle.

"I knew when I saw you again my nightmares would come back," Alex admitted, her eyes going back to the fire.

"Did they ever go away before that?"

"Living here where it happened? Not really, but I went months at a time without any dreams at all."

"Lucky," Astra replied, causing Alex to look up again. "One can't really escape a Dementor attack, professor."

"Call me Alex. Or Brave One if you insist. Not in front of the children though." Alex replied with a playful smirk. It slowly slid away after a moment. "But I suppose you are right."

"The Kiss wasn't complete, but I haven't really felt warm since," Astra said. Her eyes widened slightly as if to realize what she had just said. "I've never said that out loud before. I can't say never. There are times, when I see my neice. I guess that is why I came back here. She started her first year this year, and despite the ghosts, literal and metaphorical that haunt the school, I hope to see the aftermath. I hoped to see what the war brought for the children who didn't have to see what we saw. " The kettle hissed over the music of the harp and Astra used her wand to remove it from the fire and pour it over the mugs, each with a tea bag in it. She passed one of the cups to Alex, who accepted it. Only then did she move to the sofa. When she sat, she was surprised by how far in she sank. She let the mug warm her hands as she held it to her chest and watched as Astra sad beside her, turning so that her back was against the arm on the right side of the sofa. Alex shifted as well so that the two women could face each other.

"I try not to envy the first years. They experienced Hogwarts differently. I came because it was supposed to be the safest place for me. I was scared coming, knowing that Harry Potter was out there hiding from Him. Everyone knew he was coming to Hogwarts, that Lord Voldemort," Alex couldn't help herself. She shuddered when she said the name. "That he would be not far behind."

"I admit my first four years were in blissful ignorance, and you didn't have that," Astra said as she blew into her teacup.

"No," Alex agreed. "Where did you go? After, I mean."

"Anywhere I could feel the sun. I traveled. I trained to be an Auror and worked as such until Kara got her letter and I heard rumors of a new professor was needed." Alex nodded to the new information. She had heard some of Astra's achievements as an Auror rounding up Death Eaters in hiding. The woman was on a vengeance, people would say, due to how many people she hunted down. Astra watched Alex for a moment. "I know you more or less stayed here."

"I did. I had a summer of fun and then Headmistress McGonagall was on me. You know something?" Astra tilted her head, indicating that her full attention was on Alex. "Something I never said out loud either... After the war, I read anything I could find on the battles, on He Who Can't Be Named," Alex said, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere by speaking the beast's name, even though she wanted to be brave and rise above the fear of a name, to remind herself He was long dead and no longer to be feared. "After learning more about Him, I sometimes wonder if she saw a bit of You Know Who in me. Afraid of what I could become. Not nearly - And I'd never, but... If only Dumbledore had intervened for Him in the way Headmistress McGonagall had for me..."

Astra moved closer so that she could reach for Alex's hand. "From what I heard and what I know, I don't think you'd ever sink to that, not even to that of a Death Eater. We were scared children up against monsters of the wizard world and you were magnificent. I think you would have found your way back one way or another, but I am glad you had someone who dragged you back instead. Anyone can see the potential in you."

Alex looked down at their linked hands and tried not to blush. "Thank you." The two of them finished the tea, and not long after Alex felt her eyes and head drooping. Astra watched as Alex began to fall asleep. She took the empty tea cup from the Potions professor and shifted so that the blanket on the back of the sofa was over the younger woman's hip and Alex's head was in her lap. It was the warmest Astra had felt in over fifteen years, and she leaned further into the back cushioning of the sofa and found herself also falling asleep to the soft melodies of the harp.


End file.
